Steel Valley edges Riverside in overtime to return to WPIAL Class 2A title game

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, November 17, 2017 | 11:36 PM

Steel Valley coach Rod Steele is a man of faith and when he went to church Friday he swears God told him the Ironmen's game with Riverside would go to overtime.

“He told me it was going to go longer than 48 minutes,” Steele said.

Whether it was divine intervention or not it came true, but the one thing Steele didn't learn was whether or not his team was going to win.

When Trey Kartfelt found a leaping Amonte Strothers in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown, Steel Valley's prayers were answered.

The connection gave the Ironmen a 13-10 overtime victory over No. 4 Riverside in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals at North Hills' Martorelli Stadium and a chance to defend their title when they play Washington at 6 p.m. Nov. 25 at Robert Morris.

Steel Valley (11-0) extended its winning streak to 26 games.

After Wyatt Ray booted a 26-yard field goal on Riverside's overtime possession, Kartfelt found the matchup he liked and threw to where the 6-foot-2 Strothers could reach it.

“I threw up with a little air under it where he could go get it,” Karfelt said. “We had been working on that since the summer when we doing seven-on-sevens. It paid off big time.”

Karfelt completed two passes after being inserted at quarterback at halftime, replacing Ronnell Lawrence, and both were touchdowns to Strothers. The first TD went for 71 yards after Strothers broke past the defensive backs and caught the ball in stride near midfield.

“I knew my guys were down, and I had to do something big,” Karfelt said. “I'm a captain on this team. I had to do what I had to do to help get this team to RMU.”

Riverside, which was looking for its first trip to the finals since 1993, had the ball inside the Steel Valley 10 twice in the last four minutes, but came away empty both times. A fumble by LeMarcus Cleckley on a third down play at the 8 thwarted the first attempt, and a bad snap foiled an 18-yard field goal attempt by Ray with under a minute remaining in regulation.

“They were playing tough defense,” Riverside coach Ron Sciarro said. “With the fumble and the bad snap … I guess it just wasn't our night. We had our chances.”

The Ironmen were plagued by procedure fouls, accumulating nine pre-snap penalties and amassed 109 total yards in penalties.

Riverside (9-3) fell to Steel Valley, 48-28, in Week 1, but stayed right with the Ironmen throughout Friday with a stout defensive effort.

The Panthes held Steel Valley to two first downs in the second half and forced three consecutive three-and-outs before Strothers' game-tying TD.

“We're a better football team then we were (Week 1), especially defensively,” Sciarro said. “Other than the one long pass, we held them pretty good. Offensively, I'll have to look at the film, but we didn't block like we know how to block, and they stopped us.”

Ben Hughes connected with Kyle Marweb on a 20-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter for Riverside's lone score. Hughes, a sophomore, passed for 116 yards and was intercepted once.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Riverside, Steel Valley